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9 December 2008

Salutation

Programme director,
Your Excellency, Vice-President Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan,
Excellencies, Governors of the States of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
Honourable ministers of both countries,
Members of the two delegations,
Honoured guests, friends,
Ladies and gentlemen:

On behalf of the government and the people of the Republic of South Africa, I wish to warmly welcome His Excellency Vice-President, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and members of his delegation, to the shores of our country.

I also trust that your stay will not only be fruitful professionally but that you will find the time to enjoy the legendary hospitality of our people.

Your Excellency

Please allow me to take this opportunity to express our deepest condolences to the families in Jos, Plateau, who lost their beloved ones in the recent tragic events in your country.

We are convinced that your visit reaffirms the commitment of both our countries to the strengthening of our Bi-National Commission. Our relationship, based on mutual respect and trust, has come a long way since the inaugural session of the BNC in October 1999.

Our shared past dictates that the importance of our gathering here today in Tshwane should not escape us, as we review the many years that our BNC has traversed to this date, and seek better ways in which we can accelerate the implementation of its agreements for the benefit of our people.

This exercise has become necessary since in October next year, we will be celebrating 10 years of this BNC. As we progress towards the tenth anniversary of our bilateral relations, it is incumbent upon us to avoid "over-celebrating but under-achieving."

In order to be true to this challenge, it is imperative that we reflect upon the decisions of the seventh session of the BNC which was held in Abuja earlier this year, as well as the progress made during the last session of the Special Implementation Committee, which took place here in Tshwane in November 2008.

Ladies and gentlemen,

We will have an opportunity later in our meeting to interrogate in detail our progress and challenges still to be overcome. All I can do here is simply to tease out the highlights.

The signing of the Agreement on Tourism and Co-operation is a step that we must emulate in other sectors of our BNC. I am also delighted at the progress made particularly on consular and immigration matters wherein our two countries have committed themselves to finalising an agreement in this area. This is a necessary first step towards an Africa in which our geographic borders are not a constraint on our people's movement, business and trade.

On civil aviation, the recent negotiation on the liberalisation of air services will see an increase in frequencies and the opening up of new routes between our two countries.

Your Excellency,

There is however an urgent need to finalise a number of outstanding memoranda of understanding to be signed by our two countries at our eighth BNC to be held here in South Africa next year.

We also need to redouble our efforts to fast track our trade and economic relations to the top of our two countries' bilateral relations. We will need to seriously consider in our meeting here a concrete and costed plan of action with deliverables, as this will give body and soul to the work of our BNC.

Distinguished guests,

A strong and strategic partnership between South Africa and Nigeria is to the benefit of our continent. We have seen how this partnership can help the African Union (AU) and its New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) programme in the achievement of their objectives.

Our people are also to benefit, especially traders, business people, professionals and tourists. A partnership like the one we have been building with our BNC over almost a decade can only be sustainable when it is anchored on the shoulders of our people.

Our continent and our two countries in particular have been through a lot; we have seen things fall apart one after another even to the bewilderment of Chinua Achebe.

Today we are not meeting to moan over the past but to strengthen our resolve to complete this long journey we began nearly ten years ago when we established our BNC.

I thank you.

Issued by: The Presidency
9 December 2008